A fresh and creamy avocado dressing combines with chicken and crisp bacon to create this Avocado Chicken Salad. It’s delicious served as wraps or sandwiches for an easy meal.
I’m not sure what’s going on, but the avocados I’ve been bringing home from the store recently have been some of the best avocados I’ve ever had. Costco sells them in big bunches of 6 or more per bag and I’ve been picking them up on every shopping trip. Every single avocado in those bags has been perfect.
This is an excellent turn of events because I’m crazy for avocados. I smear them on toast, use them to make copycat Chipotle Guacamole, blend them into creamy Avocado Ranch Dressing, or add them to a Southwest Chopped Salad.
But, this Avocado Chicken Salad is one of my very favorite ways to use them. The rich, creaminess of avocado blended with mayonnaise and sour cream creates such an amazing dressing for this unique chicken salad. It’s a seriously delicious experience and a fun twist on my Classic Chicken Salad.
Ingredient Notes
- Dressing: The dressing is quickly whirled together in your food processor and consists of avocado, lime juice, garlic, a little mayo, sour cream, fresh Italian parsley, salt, and freshly ground black pepper.
- Cooked chicken: From a meaty rotisserie chicken (hello Costco)! If you’d prefer to cook your own chicken, see the instructions below.
- Bacon: A little cooked and crumbled bacon goes a long way in the flavor department. You can omit it if you’d like, but I love the smoky component it adds to creamy avocado.
- Red onion: A little diced red onion adds another layer of flavor.
How to Make Avocado Chicken Salad
- Place the chopped avocado in a bowl and sprinkle with a little lime juice.
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, parsley, garlic, about one-quarter of the diced avocado (reserve the remaining avocado for later), the remaining lime juice, and a little salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.
- To a large bowl, add 3 ½ cups chicken, bacon, onion, remaining chopped avocado, and the dressing.
- Gently fold the mixture together. Fold in the remaining ½ cup chicken, if needed, to reach the desired level of creaminess. Season with additional salt and pepper, if desired.
Rotisserie Chicken Substitution
You can cook your own chicken at home for this Avocado Chicken Salad recipe or for any recipe that calls for rotisserie chicken. Considering the exceptionally low cost of roti chickens, this isn’t going to save you any money. But, it can be useful if you don’t have access to or don’t want to use a store-bought chicken for any other reason.
- Place 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts in a 12-inch skillet and add chicken broth. The chicken breasts should be nearly covered in liquid but not totally immersed.
- Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover the skillet and allow the chicken to simmer at a low boil until tender and cooked through.
- Transfer the cooked chicken to a cutting board to cool before slicing or shredding it for your recipe.
Serving Suggestions
Honestly, I can eat this stuff with a fork right out of the bowl but it’s also delicious on sandwich rolls, toasted grainy bread, or rolled into wraps with romaine lettuce and chopped tomatoes. Or, simply mound a scoop of Avocado Chicken Salad on spring greens for an easy lunch or dinner.
Storage Tips
Once you slice an avocado it begins the process of oxidation and will gradually begin to turn brown. The saving grace for this recipe is that the citric acid from the lime juice helps slow down the browning process and keep the chicken salad looking and tasting fresh for at least a couple of days after it is prepared.
Transfer any leftovers to an airtight container. To ensure even more freshness, you can press a small piece of plastic wrap down over the surface of the chicken salad before placing the lid on top. For food safety concerns, it should be consumed with 3 to 4 days but I’d plan on using it all within 2 days, for the freshest flavor.
More Chicken Salad Recipes You’ll Love
- Napa Almond Chicken Salad
- Crunchy Sweet Chicken Salad Sandwiches
- Curry Chicken Salad Sandwiches
- Pesto Chicken Salad
- Cranberry Almond Poppy Seed Chicken Salad
- Classic Chicken Salad
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Avocado Chicken Salad
Ingredients
- 2 large ripe avocados, Haas avocados are best
- 1 lime, juiced, divided
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup sour cream, regular or light
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian flat leaf parsley
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 3 ½ to 4 cups chopped rotisserie chicken breast, from 1 meaty rotisserie chicken
- 4 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
- ¼ diced red onion
Optional for Serving
- Sliced bread, sandwich rolls, or wraps
- Green leaf lettuce or romaine leaves and thinly sliced or diced tomato
Instructions
- Peel and chop the avocados and place them in a medium bowl. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon lime juice over the top and set aside. Reserve the remaining lime juice for later.
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, parsley, garlic, about one-quarter of the diced avocado (reserve remaining avocado for later), the remaining lime juice, and a little salt and pepper. Blend until smooth. Set aside.
- To a large bowl, add 3 ½ cups chicken, bacon, onion, remaining chopped avocado, and the dressing, and gently fold the mixture together. Fold in the remaining ½ cup chicken, if needed, to reach the desired level of creaminess. Season with additional salt and pepper, if desired.
- Serve on sandwich rolls, on toasted whole wheat bread, or roll it into wraps.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
More Delicious Avocado Recipes
This post was originally published on August 18, 2017. It has been updated with new text and images.
